CWelsh

I've been listening to Radio Paradise more and particularly enjoy the option of listening in the MQA format. The sound is really amazing and I'm being introduced to new artists.

Did you see this post: May be an option???

I just bought my Forte llls so I'm going to take the ignorance is bliss route and continue to love them as they are. 😉

Clearly 😃

I read his comment as tongue still firmly in cheek. 😉

Okay. I made one serious comment, so I'll go away now.

Per the OP: So, I'm playing along. 🥳

You know what...for bang for the buck I have to backtrack and agree with you. I like the taste of Wild Turkey a little better, but only a little. I think the Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond is fantastic...especially for the price.

None of my English cars have ever leaked oil. Not even my 79 Jag. My BMW, on the other had, has a leaky oil pan gasket that the mechanic says will cost about $2,600 to repair because he has to drop the entire front-end assembly to access it. Supposedly, a common problem on the 3.0 engine. I lose maybe 1 quart between oil changes, so I figure I can buy a lot of oil for the cost of the repair. UGH!

Over the years, I've owned three Jaguars and now drive a Land Rover. For many, I'm an idiot because everyone "knows" they are oil-leaking pieces of junk that spend more time in the shop than they do on the road. The fact that this has not been my experience at all not withstanding, those beliefs are considered by many to be absolute truth and there are those who want to make sure others know that truth. I, for one, don't feel it is my place to correct anyone's thinking. There are, of course, exceptions (i.e. someone pointing a gun at their own head in the belief that .45 slug won't hurt them). I may offer an opinion or engage them in dialog, but I try to keep in mind that my obviously superior knowledge on any and every matter could be wrong. Unless the subject is bourbon. Anyone who doesn't agree that Wild Turkey 101 is the best bang for the buck just doesn't have their head on straight. 🥳

I'm curious what kinds of projects you have planned for the CNC machine?

There is a certain satisfaction in getting the most out of the least, isn't there? Anyone should be able to make a $100K system sound great, but can you get 98% of the way there with $5K or less? That's a fun challenge.

While 98% of the stuff you guys talk about is over my head, I keep coming back to see where it is all going. Three weeks ago it would have been 99% incomprehensible, so I'm learning something. This is part of why I joined this site, so thank you all. This is fun.

Score! I'm also running mine with a 1060 and think they sound great. Another member suggested I consider building one of the Class D amps based on the TI TPA3255 board, but I've been following the thread on the Topping PA 5, and I'm starting to wonder if that might be a better way to go. I would also like to try them with tubes someday. This hobby could get expensive!

I'm not familiar with the Collings Soco Deluxe so I had to check it out. Man, is that ever a gorgeous guitar! I always tell people I'm a better builder than player. I'm mediocre at best, but have a good sense of rhythm so I'm okay in a supporting role. One of the things I enjoy most about building and restoring is experimenting with the electronics to see what kinds of tones I can extract. My only attempt at winding my own pickups was a dismal failure, but I will try again once I get my shop set back up. We sure have strayed far from the original topic of this thread 😄

I build and restore electric guitars as a hobby and this reminds me of discussions I've had with friends about wanting "vintage reproduction" pickups to get that magical sound from the 50s or 60s. I try telling them that they will never sound exact because no machine can perfectly reproduce the imperfections and resulting distortion of something that was hand-made sixty years ago. Then I really piss them off by asking which one of the thousands of pickups wound that particular year do they consider to be perfect, because no two would have been exactly the same.

No offense taken. I knew you knew.

Yikes! I was thinking Duane and Dickey doubling on guitar leads.

I think of it as the Allman Brothers effect 😃

@Barefootserpent Now that you've had a few days of listening, how do you like the Fortes? Satisfactory improvement over the KG 4s?

I'm curious about this, too. When the phrase came up earlier in the thread I started thinking about descriptions such as "sound stage depth" "air" and other terms that are used with reference to how we get to a "live" sound. Does the phase coherence of the speakers affect whether or not I can hear the virtual location of one cymbal relative to another in that sound stage? Or, is there something else that creates the image?

It was very easy to set up and get started with it. I'm pretty sure I haven't tapped the full functionality, but I use it for both music and TV (via HDMI ARC). Currently, I'm only using Amazon Music Unlimited as a subscribed service. TuneIn and Radio Paradise are services included with the Node as well. TuneIn gives access to broadcast radio, apparently from around the world. I've used that to listen to a favorite Sunday morning program out of Chicago. I've just started exploring Radio Paradise. One cool thing there is they offer music in either CD quality or MQA. The MQA sounds amazing! You mentioned getting the Node 2. Mine is the gen 3 version. Not sure what the difference is, or if there is a difference.

We're rebuilding our house after a fire last summer and plan to move back in mid-March. It's been years since I tried to do anything serious with two-channel and this is my opportunity. I've already purchased the Forte llls and a Bluesound Node, and have been encouraged to try my hand at building a TPA3255 Class D amp. If that works well, I might consider an ACA kit (or two). I will probably need to stop there for 2022. My wife is reasonably encouraging of my hobby, but I don't want to push it too much.

I love mine and definitely encourage it.

WOW!